4ms Tapographic Delay

The Tapographic Delay, designed by Matthias Puech and 4ms Company, is a complex multi-tap delay in the Eurorack format with a unique interface designed for live performance. It excels at transforming the simplest audio (a drone, a percussive sound) into complex rhythmic structures, meshes of organic textures, lush harmonic mille-feuilles, liquid and resonant effects.

The Tapographic Delay is an expressive experimental instrument meant to be played in real-time, rather than a set-and-forget end-of-chain effect. Interact with it! Experiment! Push it to its limits!

About the Tapo:

Have you ever gotten tired of the monotonous repetitions that your standard delay pedal/module produced? Have you ever wished for a more complex rhythmic structure than just decaying repetition? If yes, you have come to the right place: the Tapographic Delay is an advanced effect that lets you handle repetition in a completely novel way. It is to a traditional delay what a full rhythmic sequencer (with pattern recall, velocity control, tactile input) is to a simple clock. With the TD, you interactively define the rhythm that the repetitions will follow: a velocity-sensitive sensor allows you to record, edit, modify, and sequence your own arrangements of delays. In a sense, the TD is the converse of the classic Frippertronics sound-on-sound setup popularized by Robert Fripp in the 70's: you don't play the guitar, you play the tape loop!

Basic Features:

• Multi-tap audio delay line with advanced features
• Velocity-sensitive force sensor to tap the delay configurations (tapographies)
• Up to 32 taps, each with its own delay time, amplitude/filter and panning
• Low-pass filter or resonant (pingable) band-pass filter on each tap
• Morphing between delay configurations, with adjustable morph time
• Two different feedback paths: a Repeat toggle and a Feedback knob
• Save and recall up to 24 delay configurations (4 banks of 6 slots each)
• Tapography sequencer with forward, random walk or random directions
• Synchronization to an external clock, with clock divider/multiplier
• Gate output that plays the current rhythm of delays
• Maximum delay time of 174 seconds (almost 3 minutes)
• 16 bits/48kHz with 32 bits floating-point internal processing, 1.3ms software latency
• Mono-in, stereo-out operation
• Electrical and Mechanical Specifications:
  • Module Size:
    • 18 HP Eurorack format module
    • 10-pin Eurorack power header
    • 0.98" (25mm) maximum depth with power cable
  • Power consumption:
    • +12V rail: 125mA
    • -12V rail: 32mA
    • +5V rail: not used
    • Connect red stripe of power cable towards the bottom of the module, which is marked with a white stripe and the words -12V and POWER
  • Audio Inputs:
    • 22Vpp maximum
  • Audio Outputs:
    • Dry frequency response:
      20Hz - 5kHz: +/-0.1dB maximum @10kHz: -2.3dB
      @20kHz: -7.8dB
    • Soft-limiting limits output to maximum of 17Vpp
  • Trigger inputs:
    • Acceptable trigger voltage range: +2V to +12V
  • Trigger outputs (Gate Out):
    • +8V trigger pulse
    • 4ms pulse width
  Included with the TAPO:
  • 10-to-16 pin power cable
  • 4 M3 Knurlie screws